500 senior admirals and generals took out an ad today in the Washington Times to declare their support for Mitt Romney. The professional core of the U.S. military overwhelmingly favors Mitt Romney over President Obama by a two-to-one margin.

Hundreds of former senior military leaders have taken out an ad in Monday’s Washington Times newspaper declaring their support for Republican Mitt Romney, a rare if not unprecedented action in the final days of a presidential campaign.

“We, the undersigned, proudly support Governor Mitt Romney as our nation’s next President and Commander-in-Chief,” says the advertisement, which is signed by some 500 retired flag and general officers representing major branches of the U.S. military.

James J. Carey, a retired Navy rear admiral, told friends and colleagues in a written message that it was important for the group “to take a public stand on how very important it is that our fellow Americans choose a new Commander-in-Chief” on Tuesday. Carey is national chairman of the National Defense Committee.

The dissatisfaction with Obama among many former military leaders runs the gamut — from his handling of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, to his possible allowing of billions of dollars in prospective defense cuts, to his presiding over a dour economy over the last four years, according to interviews with two local signatories.

Retired Rear Adm. George K. Worthington, a former SEAL commander, noted the deaths of two ex-SEALs among the four killed during the consulate attack in Lybia. The former SEALs, both government contractors, were Glen Doherty of Encinitas and Tyrone Woods of Imperial Beach.